The Heartbreak of Knives
by Little InkSpot
Summary: Knives reflects on how he met the love of his life as he fights to figure out the truth behind their breakup and reach her before it's too late. Knives/OC. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

when knives woke up, he was staring at a ceiling.

in a human's house.

_Brother?_ he asked hesitantly,feeling the frantic panic radiating off Vash.

_Knives? You're awake!_ He could sense surprise, and guilt, too-undoubtedly for him having perforated Knives many times over.

_I'd come see you, Knives, but we've got a bit of a problem._

Knives snorted. _What's the problem, Brother? one of your dear spiders run away?_

_Humans aren't spiders, Knives. And yes, one of my friends is missing. Not that you care._

_oh really?_ Knives leaned back against the pillows, a cold smirk playing around the edges of his mouth. _which one, Vash? the tall pudding-loving idiot, or that short pissy one you seem so fond of?_

_Neither._ Came Vash's short reply.

_Oh? Did you make another 'friend' i don't know about? do tell, Vash._

he could feel Vash's hesitation. _i don't know..._

_Oh, come Vash. I am currently incapacitated, as you made sure. I am unable to squish your little spiders._

_...Her name is Rachel._

Knives' eyes flew open, and he bolted upright. breathing heavily from the shock of hearing the one name he thought he never would again, he tried to calm himself. Rachel had died. It was probably a different human by the same name.

_Rachel? what does she look like, Vash?_

Vash blinked. His brother did not sound malicious. He sounded wary, and also... heartbroken?

Hesitantly, her showed Knives an image of Rachel as he had last seen her- red hair wild, green eyes smiling with that hint of heartbreak that had never left them.

he could sense Knives' surprise, and a deep sadness, almost longing. then he could her through his brother's ears. "Rachel?"

_How long has she been gone, Vash?_

_Why do you care?_

_Vash. Now._

_...a few hours. she said she was going back to sleep, but she's not anywhere in the house._

A few hours. Knives closed his eyes. All this time. She'd been alive all this time, and he hadn't known.

_How do you know Rachel?_ Vash asked, curiousity and wondering shock evident.

His response was Knives breaking off the psychic connection.


	2. Chapter 2

Knives, of course, knew exactly what Rachel had been talking about. Going back to sleep. She was going back to the place where he had first met her, where she had first awakened.

One year ago...

Knives had been researching the tragedy of Tessla when he had come across a file stating that a young girl named Rachel had to be put in suspended animation when she attempted to free 'the subject'. Perhaps such a line of inquiry would not be useless.

Eventually he tracked the remains of this Rachel to a remote piece of spaceship that had somehow survived the crash. He had entered the lost bit of technology, inwardly impressed at how the ship had managed to hold together, despite it's rough landing. It was unsettling in the way that there was no dust anywhere.

When he reached the cryogenic chamber, though, he was in for a surprise. Somehow, the girl had had a strange trick played on her; the technology encasing her had considerably slowed her aging process. She appeared to be about nineteen, a young adult, though she had been put under hundreds of years ago.

He stared down at the face, seperated only by a thin sheet of glass. Her skin was pale and smooth, like ceramic, unlike the suntanned tones he was used to. Long tangled red hair reached to her waist, so different from the straight shades of brown and black he was accustomed to. Almost as if it was acting of it's own accord, one hand lifted up to rest on the pane of glass.

A mechanical beep issued from the machine, and the glass slid away from the girl's body. Her eyes shot open, revealing a startling shade of green that Knives had never seen before.

The girl bolted upright, scrambling off the platform she had been resting on as she dashed for the door. Knives caught her as she fell, her muscles unable to handle her weight, although Knives noticed that the girl was ridiculously light. Surely that couldn't be healthy. Then he wondered why he cared.

"Lemme go! I need to stop them from hurting her! Tessla!" she screamed, fighting to get free. Knives allowed himself a smirk at her rather pitiful attempt to escape. Obviously the hundreds of years of doing nothing had left her weak as a kitten.

"Tessla is dead," he told her. "she died a long time ago."

"What? No. No! You're lying!" she screamed, fighting(rather uselessly)to escape his grasp.

"Why would I lie to you?" he asked softly. This human was...

"No. No. Tessla..." All the fight going out of her, the girl-Rachel-sunk to the floor and began to cry, sobbing into her hands(And getting Knives' shirt wet in the process.)

_Unusual._


	3. Chapter 3

**Did I mention that this story now has one review! WHOOOOOO! One whole review!  
****Can I get a second one before I update? Pretty please?**

**Still don't own Trigun.**

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"So... Tessla died hundreds of years ago, and I was locked in the cryo chamber all that time. This particular piece of the shuttle broke off in some sort of malfunction which caused all the ships to crash onto the desert planet we were orbiting, and all the power in this chunk of satellite reverted to my cryo chamber, significantly slowing my aging process while I slept."

Knives sighed. "That is what I just said."

Rachel stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not too easy to absorb the knowledge of an entire history in a few minutes, you know."

The man sighed again. "I suppose not."

There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated their own thoughts.

"Right then. Can you point me towards the nearest town?"

Knives snorted quietly. "And what would you do with that information?"

Rachel glared at him. "Try to go and get a life?"

"You would not last an hour out there. Not even a regular sp-human would last long in that scorching desert, and you especially would be as helpless as a newborn thomas."

"Well, what do you suggest I do then? I'm not going back to sleep."

Knives resisted the urge to tell the little spider that she had no say in such a matter, and that he and he alone would decide her fate. _This human was..._

"Please." Came Rachel's voice, no more than a whisper. "I want to be able to live again."

Knives took a moment to wonder if he was completely insane, then said reluctantly, "You will come back to my...home with me. You will stay there until you learn some form of survival skills."

She looked up, eyes wide. "I couldn't. I'd just be something under your feet."

"You're coming and that's final." he snapped.

"Like hell I am!"

"You have no choice!"

As they both subsided into fuming silence, Millions realized that she had unwittingly cemented his decision to take care of her. Stupid Spider.

_Obstinate._


	4. Chapter 4

**InkSpot: Ok, many thanks to JasperK. I just whipped up this chapter because they reviewed my last one so quickly! Now Knives, say the disclaimer.**

**Knives: I refuse. And you cannot make me, you pitiful spider.**

**InkSpot: *pulls out Punisher Cross and aims it at him***

**Knives: Little InkSpot does not own Trigun.**

**InkSpot: Good boy!**

**Knives: ... Spider.**

* * *

Vash, Meryl, and Millie all sat down on a bench, an unspoken agreement going through them to pause for a break before they continued to search for their friend Rachel.

The silence surrounding them was broken when Millie asked Vash, "What was it like bringing Knives home?"

None of them, not even Vash, questioned the idea that the little house the girls had bought during his absence was indeed home. "Well, it certainly was... interesting." Vash said, startling them as he had almost never spoken about anything concerning Knives before. "I mean, he's Knives. The days were miserable due to the heat and the weight of his body and the lack of water, and I often ended them as soon as the suns started to set. But it wasn't always that bad."

"How so?" Meryl asked softly when he failed to go on. Vash turned to them and looked at them, his eyes glinting with hope. "Every day that he was conscious, he would sit and watch the sunset. He seemed almost happy, as if he was remembering something wonderful."

They sat and contemplated that, but then Millie spoke up, bubbly but confused. "But Vash, that's what Rachel did!"

Meryl glanced up sharply. "That's right, she did. It was her favorite time of day."

The three of them looked at each other for a moment before wordlessly sprinting off to the house to go check on their resident genocidal plant.

V-(Flashback)-V

"Wait! We have to stop!"

Knives resisted the urge to squish the spider behind him underneath his boot. He turned and glared at Rachel. It was only the first day of traveling with her, and already she was driving him mad. "What is it this time?" He asked venomously. _This human was..._

"We have to watch the sunset!" Rachel said happily, not noticing his murderous aura.

"No. Now be quiet before I take you back to the wreck." He said, turning his back to her and continuing on his way.

Her arms wrapped around one of his, hugging it closer in an attempt to keep him from moving. "I'm not going back to sleep." She said obstinately. "Besides, there are two suns! Two!"

"Which makes it twice as much time we're wasting." Knives growled.

"Please?" Rachel begged. "Look! There they go!" she exclaimed excitedly, turning to look at the sunset, smiling contentedly.

Knives sighed in defeat and turned to look at the sunset, although his mind was occupied more with the fact that her arms were still twined around one of his, and wondering why he didn't find it repulsive as he should have.

_Unique._


	5. Chapter 5

**"Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe! But bad news everyone-Because guess who!"**

**Virtual cookies go to whoever is the first to correctly guess where that quote comes from. Oh, and here's another quote: "Little InkSpot does not own Trigun."-Vash the Stampede.**

**...Yeah, that second one is a little less exciting. Enjoy the story!**

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Knives was pacing, although if anyone told him that he probably would've lopped their head off at this point. He had gotten the red-haired spider back to his base alright, but as soon as they had reached it she had locked herself in the room he had given her. He would be unable to use her if she never came out.

The plan was simple: gain her trust, then use her against Vash.

Knives grinned sadistically as he wondered how Vash would feel, aiming his gun at Knives only to have a spider protect him.

He certainly wouldn't be able to shoot, that's for sure.

It was going on five days that she had been locked in there, and while he had originally thought it had been a good idea to supply her room with food-he doubted that the Gung Ho Guns would manage well with a spider at the dinner table-he was beginning to doubt that particular move. The meals would've been awkward, but at least he would've been assured of the spider's continued existence. He currently had no idea of whether or not she was still alive, and he couldn't do anything to find out whether or not she was without looking like he cared, which would be unacceptable in the eyes of his men.

Just then the doors burst open and Rachel came running through in a whirlwind of red hair and the white sundress Dominique the Cyclops had found for her to wear. "I've done it!" She exclaimed excitedly, her arms latching around his waist as she looked up at him, green eyes sparkling.

Knives stiffened and resisted the urge to shove her off of him (In surprise, not disgust, surprisingly enough.) He forced himself to relax though, and one side of his mouth quirked up in a nearly imperceptible smile. "Done what?" he asked.

"Brushed my hair!" she responded eagerly.

Now he smirked. "It took you four days to brush your hair?"

Rachel stuck her tongue out at him, although she didn't draw away from the one-sided hug. "Those tangles were hundreds of years old! It's amazing that I got it done in only four days!"

He chuckled a little, running one hand through her long fiery locks. "And a fine job you did of it too." She yawned, and he smiled benevolently. "Now you'd best go to bed. I believe all that sitting in one place has tired you out."

Too exhausted to reply, she mumbled through another yawn, "I'll (yawn) respond to that (yawn) tomorrow." and wandered back to her room.

Millions Knives' smile turned into a malicious frown as she left. He had only to win her confidence, and then he would be rid of her and the pesky emotions she invoked.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~(Back in Inapril, the present.)~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Gloom settled on the three friends as they reached the house-and found Knives' bed deserted.

"How is that possible?!" Meryl cried. "With those injuries, he shouldn't be able to lift a finger, let alone get up and leave!"

But she had reckoned without Knives' willpower, which caused him to force himself to work through the pain. He had to find Rachel and set whatever had gone wrong between them right. He wasn't going to lose her a second time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Cookies to JasperK, because they knew about the last quote.**

**Surprise character in this chapter! Can't wait to have you meet him!**

**Don't own Trigun.****(curses!)**

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"Knives?" Rachel asked late one night, when all the Gung Ho Guns were asleep.

Knives looked up from his perusal of an old pre-crash book. "Yes?"

"What happened to Dominique?"

Knives resisted the urge to sigh. He had known this was going to happen-after all, he had ordered Dominique the Cyclops to become friends with her, and when she didn't come back from her battle with Vash, Rachel would surely question. He couldn't exactly tell her that Dominique had been killed by another of the Gung Ho Guns. Instead he did something that would surely further his case.

"Come here." he sighed, and, confused, Rachel walked over and sat next to him on the couch. He turned to look at her, face solemn. "She went off to get supplies for us-food and water, the basics. But the town that she chose to go to, had also happened to be visited by Vash the Stampede at the same time. Many people went for the bounty, and Vash was shooting everything up-Dominique got caught in the crossfire." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Rachel, but she's dead."

Rachel's eyes immediately watered. "Dead?"

He nodded.

She leaned forward and latched on to him, holding on as if he was a lifeline and that if she let go for even one second, she would be swept away by everything around her. Her choked sobs were muffled by his shirt, which quickly grew wet. Unsure what to do, he hesitantly brought one hand up and rested it on her head. When that seemed to be all right, he copied her and wrapped his arms around her small frame, holding her till she fell asleep.

Sighing in half-hearted aggravation, he picked her up and settled her on his bed. Then he realized that her arms were still locked around his neck. Unsure of how to remove them without doing physical harm to her, Knives simply laid down next to her, meaning to leave as soon as her sleeping grip slackened. However, having nothing to do but study Rachel's peaceful face, still slightly tear-stained, he dropped off into sleep for the first time in a very long time.

_-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-_

It was only her first day of camping on her way back to the bit of lost technology she had awoken from a year ago, when a body just about fell into her camp.

Realizing the man was still alive-and a priest, if the dark suit and silver cross necklace were anything to go by-Rachel quickly went about tending to his wounds.

It was three hours before he opened his eyes, and at first he thought he had died and gone to hell, because he was in deep pain and all he could see was red.

But then the red shifted and a face appeared. "You're awake? That's amazing. You shouldn't be alive, let alone conscious, with the injuries that you sustained. Must have been one hell of a fight."

"More or less walked into a trap, actually." His voice grated, sounding harsh even in his own ears.

"How are you still alive?" the girl-he could tell it was a girl now- asked curiously.

The man managed to lift one side of his mouth up in what could be called a smile. "I got a girl to find."

"Then you're very lucky," she murmured.

The priest raised one eyebrow. "Heartbreak?"

She winced. "Is it that obvious?"

He chuckled. "Naw, not really."

She sighed. "The worst part is that I still like him, even though he's the worst thing ever to walk this planet's surface."

"Sorry, but I think my former boss has earned that title," The man said, thinking about who had ordered his death.

"You'd be surprised." She chuckled dryly. "Anyways, I'm Rachel. You got a name?"

"Yeah." The guy grunted, slipping back into unconsciousness. "Wolfwood."


End file.
